RTI and Other Approaches to SLD Identification Under the IDEA: A Legal Update

Abstract

This article provides a concise and objective synthesis of the federal legislation, regulations, and agency policy interpretations; state laws; and case law, including hearing officer and complaint investigation decisions, concerning specific learning disability (SLD) identification since the 2006 IDEA regulations. The results reveal wide latitude for school districts concerning the three approaches—severe discrepancy (SD), response to intervention (RTI), and, as the third, research-based alternative, pattern of strengths and weaknesses (PSW). Moreover, these primary sources of law, with agency policy interpretations being at the margin, provide an ascending absence of detailed directives in this same sequence—SD, RTI, and PSW. In particular, the case law for SLD eligibility is relatively frequent for SD, notably limited for RTI, and nonexistent for PSW.